Ray Calloway

$942 Billion in Buybacks, $630 Billion in Dividends: Who Got the Better Deal

Nov 12, 2026

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2 min read

$942 Billion in Buybacks, $630 Billion in Dividends: Who Got the Better Deal

You can't deposit a number on a screen. And selling shares to raise cash means eating your own seed corn.

Ray Calloway

7% Rates, $417,500 Median Price: the Monthly Payment Now Tops $2,200.

Nov 11, 2026

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2 min read

7% Rates, $417,500 Median Price: the Monthly Payment Now Tops $2,200.

The median home is $417,500. Median household income is $87,000. That is 4.8 years of every dollar your household earns, before taxes or groceries.

Ray Calloway

Pull up the Bond Side of Your Statement This Week

Nov 10, 2026

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2 min read

Pull up the Bond Side of Your Statement This Week

From 1981 to 2020, bond investors made money almost every year. An entire generation of advisors built careers on that one-way trade. It has reversed.

Ray Calloway

If Your Retirement Portfolio Is Counting on a Manufacturing Rebound, Look at This Chart

Nov 9, 2026

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2 min read

If Your Retirement Portfolio Is Counting on a Manufacturing Rebound, Look at This Chart

At $106 billion a month, roughly $1.2 trillion a year flows overseas and comes back as foreign purchases of U.S. assets. The pace is picking up.

Ray Calloway

By 2035, the Government's Own Actuaries Expect 2.3 Workers per Retiree

Nov 6, 2026

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2 min read

By 2035, the Government's Own Actuaries Expect 2.3 Workers per Retiree

More than 11,200 boomers cross from the paying side to the collecting side every day. No bill on the Speaker's desk fixes demographics overnight.

Ray Calloway

The U.S. Government Just Hit Its Smallest Size Since Lyndon Johnson Was President

Nov 5, 2026

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2 min read

The U.S. Government Just Hit Its Smallest Size Since Lyndon Johnson Was President

2 million federal civilian employees for 343 million Americans. The last time headcount was this low, the country had 196 million people. That one fact tends to stop a dinner table cold.

Ray Calloway

Oil Was $67 in January. This Morning It Is $105.

Nov 4, 2026

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2 min read

Oil Was $67 in January. This Morning It Is $105.

The Arab embargo, the Iranian Revolution, the Gulf War, 2008, Russia-Ukraine — each followed the same script. The question worth asking at dinner is whether this time is different, and why you would bet on it.

Ray Calloway

A New Car Cost $17,900 in 1994. It Costs $50,000 Today.

Nov 3, 2026

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3 min read

A New Car Cost $17,900 in 1994. It Costs $50,000 Today.

In 1994 it took 25 weeks of median family income. The car didn’t get 10 weeks better. The dollars just buy less.

Ray Calloway

19 for 19: the S&P 500 Has Never Fallen in the Year After a Midterm

Nov 2, 2026

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2 min read

19 for 19: the S&P 500 Has Never Fallen in the Year After a Midterm

The average gain across all 19 midterms since 1950 is 16.6%. The worst of the bunch — 2014 — still finished up 3%.

Ray Calloway

Every Candidate This Week Is Talking About Affordability. Almost None Say Why It Got This Bad.

Oct 30, 2026

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2 min read

Every Candidate This Week Is Talking About Affordability. Almost None Say Why It Got This Bad.

One person paying $2,200 in rent alone is a financial emergency. Two people splitting it is a tight month. Today's chart connects those two sentences.

Ray Calloway

In 2001, 84% of Americans Approved of Congress. Today: 14%

Oct 29, 2026

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2 min read

In 2001, 84% of Americans Approved of Congress. Today: 14%

The country rallied after 9/11 and never found its way back. Twenty-five years of collapse in one chart.

Ray Calloway

Everyone's Worried About China Buying Farmland. China Owns Less Than 1% of It.

Oct 28, 2026

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2 min read

Everyone's Worried About China Buying Farmland. China Owns Less Than 1% of It.

From 4.1 million acres to 13.7 million. That's not wind leases or timber tracts. That's wheat and corn fields.

Ray Calloway

On Medicare and Think This Doesn't Affect You? Think Again.

Oct 27, 2026

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2 min read

On Medicare and Think This Doesn't Affect You? Think Again.

When employer plans pay hospitals and drug makers more, Medicare benchmarks shift, supplement pricing follows, and it all lands on you.

Ray Calloway

$10,000 in Gold in 2001 Is $148,000 Today

Oct 26, 2026

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2 min read

$10,000 in Gold in 2001 Is $148,000 Today

The S&P 500 with dividends reinvested over the same stretch came to about $108,000. Gold won by nearly 40 percentage points.

Ray Calloway

The Biggest Check Washington Writes Isn’t the Military

Oct 23, 2026

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2 min read

The Biggest Check Washington Writes Isn’t the Military

$1.2 trillion a year, just in interest. Tripled in six years.

Ray Calloway

Oct 22, 2026

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2 min read

Ten stocks now = 40% of the S&P 500

The last record was 27%. That was right before the dot-com bust.

Ray Calloway

Most People Hear ‘birth Rate’ and Think Lifestyle. The Real Story Is Fiscal.

Oct 21, 2026

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2 min read

Most People Hear ‘birth Rate’ and Think Lifestyle. The Real Story Is Fiscal.

The worker-to-retiree ratio has already dropped from 3.3 to 2.7. That squeeze reaches your benefit check before it reaches the headlines.

Ray Calloway

You Think You Own 500 Stocks. You’re Mainly in 10.

Oct 20, 2026

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2 min read

You Think You Own 500 Stocks. You’re Mainly in 10.

Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft alone now account for nearly 20 cents of every dollar in the fund — whether you chose that bet or not.

Ray Calloway

Home Prices Are Not the Main Villain Here

Oct 19, 2026

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1 min read

Home Prices Are Not the Main Villain Here

That’s 32% of the typical household’s gross income. Lenders used to flag anything over 28%.

Ray Calloway

The Pentagon Budget Is Now Smaller Than the Interest Bill

Oct 16, 2026

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3 min read

The Pentagon Budget Is Now Smaller Than the Interest Bill

It didn’t drift up gradually. It sat flat for two decades, then tripled in six years. The chart looks like a wall.

Ray Calloway

What a $100 Grocery Cart From 2020 Costs Now

Oct 15, 2026

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2 min read

What a $100 Grocery Cart From 2020 Costs Now

Same brands, same quantities, same store. The answer is $138. That extra $38 has already left your account, every week, for six years.

Ray Calloway

The Fed Cut Rates Three Times in 2025. Your Card Rate Went up Anyway.

Oct 14, 2026

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2 min read

The Fed Cut Rates Three Times in 2025. Your Card Rate Went up Anyway.

That 21-point spread between what banks charge you and what they pay you on savings is the widest on record.

Ray Calloway

The Economy Is ‘booming.’ Bankruptcy Filings Just Hit Their Highest Pace Since 2019.

Oct 13, 2026

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2 min read

The Economy Is ‘booming.’ Bankruptcy Filings Just Hit Their Highest Pace Since 2019.

S&P Global says business activity is at its fastest pace since early 2015. Ray’s chart today measures what that headline leaves out.

Ray Calloway

California Lost 229,000 Residents Last Year. 627 a Day, Every Day.

Oct 12, 2026

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2 min read

California Lost 229,000 Residents Last Year. 627 a Day, Every Day.

That gap is what 627 people per day decided they were finished with. Today’s chart maps where they landed.

Ray Calloway

If You Own an Index Fund, You Own This Trade

Oct 9, 2026

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2 min read

If You Own an Index Fund, You Own This Trade

AI spending flows to a handful of firms at the top. The pink slips go everywhere else. Check your exposure before next week.

Ray Calloway